Listen back to features and interviews from 95bFM's daily news and current affairs show. Joel Armstrong, Castor Chacko, Oto Sequeira, and Caeden Tipler focus on the issues of Tāmaki Makaurau and elsewhere in independent-thinking bFM style. Monday-Thursday 12-1pm on 95bFM.
In just over two weeks, ballots will be sent out to households around Auckland to vote in this year's Mayoral election.
With political veteran Phil Goff calling it a day, over twenty candidates are vying for Auckland’s highest political seat.
To discuss the happenings in the Auckland Mayoral Campaign and what young people should be paying attention to this election cycle, Emilia spoke to Newsroom Co-Editor Tim Murphy.
Tim will be MCing the Make Me Mayor debate at the University next Thursday the 8th of September.
As per usual, we have Dear Science with Alan Blackman today. We talk about Ernest Rutherfod, sex and bloody mozzies.
Jess speaks to Caitlin Wilson, a YWRC Help Centre Co-ordinator, and Dr Mike Webster about new research published by the Human Rights Commission that shows there is still a high prevalence of workplace bullying and harassment in Aotearoa, with two in five people saying they have been bullied at work. Joe also looks at this new research. He speaks to the Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner, Saunoamaali’i Karanina Sumeo on the matter.
Joe also speaks to Rothman Kam, a Senior Lecturer of Food Science & Microbiology at AUT about how Avocado seeds are being used to manufacturer a new snack and his findings can be used to address avocado wastage.
Avocado seeds account for 13% of the waste from industrial production of cold-pressed avocado oil. A study from New Zealand based researchers aimed at valorising avocado seeds by converting it into an extruded snack product using a friction cooker and comparing their textural and physical characteristics to extruded brown rice and malted barley ready to eat snacks.
Joe spoke to one of the authors of the study, Rothman Kam, a Senior Lecturer of Food Science & Microbiology at AUT, about his findings and how this relates to addressing avocado wastage.
Today on Dear Science, co-hosts Jessica Hopkins and Joe Wickins take over for the birthday of New Zealand physicist Ernest Rutherford. Alan Blackman talks about the career of the 1908 Nobel Prize in Chemistry winner.
They also discuss some questionable research about smell and sexual desire and bloody mozzies.
New research published by the Human Rights Commission has shown there is a high prevalence of workplace bullying and harassment in Aotearoa with two in five people saying they have been bullied at work.
Young people, Māori, Pacific, Asian, as well as disabled and bisexual workers, were found to be disproportionately affected by bullying and harassment in the workplace.
Firstly, Joe Wickins spoke to Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner, Saunoamaali’i Karanina Sumeo, who says people shouldn’t have to fear for their mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing while earning a living.
“It is unacceptable that abuse is occurring and is so widespread in our workplaces. We are essentially failing our people."
Then Jessica Hopkins spoke to Caitlin Wilson from the Young Workers Resource Centre about why young people are more likely to be on the receiving end of workplace bullying and harassment.
Finally, Dr Mike Webster from The University of Auckland shares his thoughts on what causes a culture of bullying in the workplace and why it has been a prevalent issue in Aotearoa for so long.
Joe speaks to Greenpeace about the UN Treaty to Protect Sea Life and how the UN is failing to reach an agreement, Anne Daniels from the New Zealand Nurses Organisation about the Primary Health Care rally happening today, Dr Makarena Dudley, a Dementia Researcher from the University of Auckland, about recruiting more Māori participants in their studies. Finally, Joe speaks to Lisa Woods, Campaign Director from Amnesty International Aotearoa about the latest Ombudsman Review of Otago Corrections Facility and it highlights systemic issues in the treatment of inmates
Trishil speaks to Dr Nicki Jackson from Alcohol Health Watch about the Alcohol Harm Minimisation Bill for our regular fornightly segment OurActionStation.
Members of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa (NZNO) will be holding public rallies today in five main centres to call on the Government to ensure Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand urgently provides the funding needed to properly value Aotearoa’s Primary Health Care nurses.
Joe spoke to Anne Daniels, The President of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation, on the matter.
The Dementia Prevention Research Clinic (DPRC) study is a national, multi-disciplinary, longitudinal research study that aims to improve understanding of Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia, in order to develop interventions that delay or prevent progression to dementia. This national cohort (266 participants enrolled to date) provides an opportunity to explore potential risk or protective factors within the ethnic diversity of the Aotearoa, New Zealand population. The numbers affected by dementia in Māori are not yet known, but the number of kaumātua 65 years or older increased by 41% between 2013 and 2018 suggesting a disproportionate increase in the prevalence of dementia for Māori is expected. Ensuring inclusion of Māori is therefore critical, not only to understand their specific risk for already identified modifiable risk factors for dementia, but also because we may identify novel risk factors, and unique protective factors that can be used to promote longer healthy lives.
Joe spoke to Dr Makarena Dudley, one of the co-authors of the study, on the matter.
The Office of the Ombudsman has last week released its report on an unannounced inspection of Otago Corrections Facility from October 2020. Amnesty International Aotearoa New Zealand has highlighted serious concerns about ongoing human rights issues shown in this report.
Joe spoke to Lisa Woods, the Campaign Director at Amnesty International on the matter.
Last week, the government announced that they would begin an official review of the Waitangi Tribunal and the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975.
The government has said that the review is to ensure the Waitangi Tribunal remains effective and relevant, however, a number of Māori and treaty law experts have referred to the review as an attack on Te Tiriti o Waitangi and its principles.
In that same week, the government announced that they would be investing $774 million towards improving the redress process for survivors of abuse in state care in Budget 2025.
However, going against one of the key recommendations of both the Royal Commission and the Redress Design Group, the government will not be looking to set up a new redress scheme for abuse survivors.
And the government recently passed amendments to the Wildlife Act that would permit the “incidental killing” of certain native wildlife species by companies during lawful activities like construction and development.
For our weekly catchup with the Green party, Oto spoke to MP Ricardo Menendez March for the party’s take on all of these issues.
In 2014, Victoria University of Wellington made an official promise to divest $650,000 worth of investments in fossil fuel companies which, at the time, comprised of 2.1% of the University’s total investments.
However, more than 10 years on, a student-led investigation found that the university still held significant investments in companies like Exxon Mobil and SHELL through third-party investment managers.
A year after a successful petition by Students for Justice in Palestine Pōneke calling on the university to divest funding from Israeli companies, a group of students from Climate Action Victoria University of Wellington have made renewed calls to the university to divest from fossil fuel companies.
For this week’s Get Action! Oto spoke to Hugh Acton, a member of Climate Action Victoria of University of Wellington, who’s launched a petition calling on the university to disclose their investments in companies involved in fossil fuel production and to divest from them immediately.
If you'd like to sign this petition, you can find it here:
National Party MP Catherine Wedd recently filed a private members bill that would look at restricting social media use for young people, mainly those under 16. While the bill has received some criticism from the ACT party, other parties such as Labour have agreed that legislation around this issue is important.
At the end of April New Zealand First MP Jenny Marcroft put forward a private members bill forward that would seek to define the word ‘woman’ in New Zealand law. The bill was received with criticism from opposition parties and the general public, who say the bill is drawing on transphobic sentiments to distract from more important issues.
In our weekly catchup with National’s Tom Rutherford, Wire host Castor asked about each of these issues, starting with the potential social media restrictions.
Last week, the controversial Pay Equity Amendment Bill passed under urgency.
The bill makes drastic changes to the Equal Pay Act 1972, making the criteria for equity claims stricter, and could can the 33 existing claims, affecting 150,000 female workers.
The passing of the bill has faced significant opposition from the Labour Party, Green Party, and Te Pāti Māori, over concerns this bill would set women back, and resulted in nationwide protests.
News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host Joel spoke to Te Pāti Māori’s Takutai Kemp about the passing of the Pay Equity Amendment Bill, and how this would impact marginalised communities.
They also spoke about the Ministry of Education releasing the draft relationships and sexuality education, or RSE, framework, for students years 0 to 13, and the party’s concerns regarding this.
But first, they discussed the Pay Equity Amendment Bill
The ACT Party has defended the Government’s controversial move to pass changes to pay equity law under urgency — a move that immediately halted all current claims and raised the bar for future ones. The Government argues the new rules will provide more “clarity” and prevent costly legal disputes, while unions and advocates say the bill is a rollback of hard-won gains for women in low-paid sectors.
Critics also slammed the lack of consultation and the speed of the legislative process, while questions are raised over whether the move was made to plug a hole in the upcoming budget. For our weekly catch up with the ACT Party, Producer Evie spoke to Simon Court about why ACT supports the Pay Equity Amendment Bill, and whether it risks undermining efforts to close the gender pay gap.
They also discussed a National Party member’s bill that would ban under-16s from using social media — a proposal ACT has declined to back for now. National says the ban would protect young people’s mental health, while ACT argues it raises serious questions about freedom of speech and parental responsibility.
International relations experts are fearing a major conflict between India and Pakistan after sharp, escalating tensions, following a deadly terrorist attack in militarised Kashmir that killed 26 people.
Kashmiris have a long history of oppression. In modern times, this has been as India and Pakistan fight over the region while Kashmiris fight for independence.
Human Rights Watch reports on Kashmir reveal examples of forced displacement, sexual violence, disappearances and allegations of torture and death in custody.
Wire Host Caeden spoke to Rohan Davis about the recent terrorist attack and ongoing military escalation, as well as the historical and political context of the Kashmir crisis.
Davis is a video essayist on YouTube from Kerala, India, who covers Indian history and politics.
The government has changed pay equality laws, halting all existing claims and reducing the number of workers who can argue for better pay based on gender discrimination.
New figures show the unemployment rate has remained unchanged from last quarter at 5.1%.
And National has put forward a member's bill proposal that would ban social media for under-16s.
For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Wire Host Caeden spoke with Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni about all of these topics.
Earlier this week, defence Minister Judith Collins announced that $2 billion would be set aside in this year’s budget to replace the Defence Force’s maritime helicopters.
This would be outside the additional $12 billion dollars that the government will be investing in the Defence Capability plan and would include another separate $1 Billion investment in the defence force over the next four years.
In that same week, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith recently announced that Cabinet had reinstated a total ban on prisoners voting in general elections, overturning laws under the previous Labour government allowing prisoners serving less than three years to vote.
And Green Party MP Steve Abel recently added The Animal Products (Closing the Welfare Gap) Amendment Bill to the biscuit tin, which would ensure that imported products in New Zealand met our animal welfare standards.
For our weekly catchup with the Green Party, Oto spoke to Greens MP Ricardo Menendez-March to discuss all of these issues.
Winter is coming, and so is a projected increase in respiratory illnesses and COVID cases. Schools are particularly notorious breeding grounds for such diseases with children being more susceptible to respiratory illnesses.
Ultimately, this results in teachers also being subject to COVID and respiratory illnesses at a higher rate than other professions, and an increased number of teachers leaving the profession due to long COVID symptoms is worsening Aotearoa’s already severe teacher shortage.
For this week’s Get Action! Oto spoke to Tara Forde from Aotearoa Covid Action, to discuss a petition of hers calling for the government to prevent the spread of COVID in our schools by making improvements to school air quality and improving accessibility to Booster Vaccines and Rapid Antigen Tests.
If you'd like to sign this petition, you can find it here:
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